July 13, 2016

Question

Joy Garretson (MS)

Hey all!

I just got a question from one of my libraries re: how to count his Vive and Oculus usages. I’d never heard of either of these things until today—they’re Virtual Reality sets that have streaming content available as part of the user experience. Do any of you have experience counting these, and would you consider counting the streaming videos that users have access to (with the hardware) under our new Electronic Content question?

SDC Comments

Jamie Mott (IL)

The Illinois State Library has an Oculus.  It does not circulate and is usually only brought out as part of a tech petting zoo at events.  My understanding from trying the Oculus and reading about Vive is that they are basically computer or video game accessories.  They cannot function on their own.   They also, in and of themselves, do not have content.  What they allow users to do is access content through the computer/internet, so they are basically the same as a Kindle, etc.  So I would count the Vive or Oculus in physical item circulation numbers.  If the library has to purchase access to the game content that goes with them, then I suppose they can count the use of each game in electronic content, but if it is stuff that is freely available online, it wouldn’t meet the definition.  Either way, I don’t think that the content is “streaming” yet.  I think they usually have to purchase and/or download each game/program.

That’s my take anyway.

Scott Dermont (IA)

I would say to count it like any other piece of hardware. Count it when it checks out. It is basically a controller for virtual reality games. You would still need a PC or gaming console to be able to use it. Treat it like a mouse or keyboard. I don’t know if the library is also checking out the software for it. If so, I would count it like any other software use. If they are checking the Oculus out with software, I’d probably count it as a single use. But if they start checking out Oculus games as well, I’d count it like any other kind of game disc check out.